Insight Nov 10, 2011
Making the most of your agency relationship (part 2)
In Part 1 of this series, we considered some of the broad issues affecting client-agency relationships. In this sequel, we drill down to the key considerations for effective development of a single project.
No project is an island
The value you receive from your agency is directly related to their level of involvement in your business. Rather than bringing isolated job orders to the table, engage the agency as an extension of your marketing team, and provide the full strategic context for each project. Involve your agency — early and often — in planning meetings related to the project. Their expertise and objectivity will pay immediate dividends in project clarity while increasing efficiency throughout the project’s life.
Measure twice then cut once
Building a project is like building a house: If you change the plans late in the game, it will cost more, it will take longer, and the quality of the end product may be compromised. At the outset of the project, make sure your agency has the clearest and most complete direction you can give. That means several things:
- Don’t launch the project until your internal stakeholders have reached consensus on its scope and objectives. (If you’re having problems in this area, call in the agency for help.)
- Focus on defining the problem to be solved, rather than pre-defining the solution. The solution is what you pay your agency for and where their value will be realized.
- Communicate both areas of certainty and areas that lack clarity. When your agency understands the black, white, and grey areas, they can approach each of them systematically — answering questions in the proper order and radically decreasing the chances that the project will have to be reconfigured late in the game.
Give the agency time to solve the problem
You’ve engaged your agency to help you solve communication problems. What do you need to say or do to get the customer to buy your product? What’s the best way to stand out from the competition? How can you get the biggest bang from your marketing buck?
Yes, some things can happen overnight, but most great ideas take time to develop — especially when you want them to have a long shelf life as part of a larger strategic plan. Give your agency time to fully digest your situation, consider a wide variety of possible solutions, and identify the ones most likely to achieve your goals. If the timeline is unavoidably short, let your agency define a schedule that will still allow them to approach your project systematically and with careful deliberation at all the right points.
Open your mind and be your customer
If you want to engage your audience in new and unexpected ways, open your mind to surprising solutions from your agency. Be willing to take a risk and do something different. Remember that only remarkable things draw attention in the noisy world of marketing.
As you review your agency’s work, strive to get outside your own head and into your customer’s. Don’t forget your project’s prime directive or be distracted by your previous marketing history. Don’t give into the temptation to “dumb it down” or to tell your audience everything about yourself every time.
Clear your mind. Imagine that the project you’re developing is the first and only thing your prospects will ever see from you — and work with your agency to produce the clearest, most concise and remarkable message possible.
